The invention relates to a fastening element for hygiene articles, particularly for diapers or for incontinence articles, for releaseable closing the article when worn by a user, where the fastening element has a first longitudinal direction and a second transverse direction and has been severed from a continuous web in the form of a longitudinal section. The fastening element is configured with mechanically acting closures, having a first section of a first supporting layer and a second section of a second supporting layer which is disposed in a transverse direction next to the first section and is attached thereto, and where the first section has a first zone with which the fastening element can be attached to the hygiene article, and where the second section has a second zone disposed in the transverse direction outside the first section and in which the mechanically acting closures are furnished, and where the fastening element is folded in the longitudinal direction.
Such a fastening element is known, for example, from WO 95/16425 and from EP 0 669 121 A1.
Moreover, non-generic fastening elements with adhesive closures are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,890, which elements however possess the remaining aforementioned generic features and are folded in a “Z” shape. The folding is carried out in such a way that adhesively configured zones end up on top of each other.
With the various aforementioned known fastening elements as the point of departure, the object of the present invention is to improve fastening elements of the generic type with regard to the following aspects.
When fastening elements are attached to hygiene articles during the production of the hygiene articles, the problem always arises of keeping the fastening elements in the assembled position, particularly when the hygiene article is folded in an often complex manner following the attachment and packaged. During the subsequent handling during production of the hygiene article, there is often a problem with the fastening elements becoming detached or unfolding. The intention of the present invention is to bring about improvement in this regard.
Furthermore, the manageability of the fastening elements, both before and during attachment to a hygiene article, and the ease of affixation itself is to be simplified, keeping the available volume that a plurality of fastening elements occupies as small as possible.